Bioshock: Eternal Pt 1(First Draft)
by FrequenciesofChoice
Summary: Updated 3/27/2020: This is my first work, I am currently reviewing the material to make myself familiar again with the story I was telling. Due to free-time I plan on now making Pt.II. That being said I will add the Overview Summary along with a message from me to the beginning of both published works. Thanks for your time.
1. A message From The Author

To the readers and critics who followed this short story and those who will find it in the future. I am currently developing the next chapters with more care. When I first initiated this tale I was in the middle of playing what I can say is one of my few true loves in life, "Bioshock". It was by all means atleast my one-hundreth and some odd playthrough. I had ten years of social-media rust on my grammar and no idea of direction for a plot or what it meant fo depicts a story. My only goal was to try to inject my expression into the story with only a simple understanding of the work of Kevin Levine and the Bioshock team. Over the period of nearly two years I underwent a transformation of self that allowed me to see life in a new and beautiful way. Though I cant say it eliminated my need of an immensely patient proof-reading; nor for my years of forcing punctuation out of my memory (skills that im working to improve).

Let it be known that the second portion of this story was initiated during a time of World Crisis. If this is viewed in a somewhat distant future, the present moment in history will be remembered by the acts made by the citizens and the leading powers of the world. In this time a virus known as "Covid-19" began to take root into the fears of the entire planet. Hysteria exploded and people began emptying food shelves, Asking for handouts, and buying ammunition. Religious followings spoke of the end, drug users replapsed, and some governments took advantage. In the background, life spoke peace into the violence and sought to plant seeds for a generation that could water and partake of the fruits of present labor.

In this time, as I watched the world reveal the ice under the surface of its waters; the ship of society screeching to hault and seemingly trying to turn away. I found myself cronguent to the character Alice, as I walked through the looking glass. It was in my own reflection that I a stranger that mirrored was mirrored as self. The person looking back screamed at me as though I were the one true enemy.So I stared and stared, patiently waiting until I could find the splice in my reality and sow shut the darkness ripping apart my own image.

Whether the World, in the end of this trial, moves towards unity or becomes further divided depends on the people. As an individual I made a choice, to find peace ; and from peace I saw Life.

It is said that "A man chooses, A slave obeys"; know here in this statement lies power given by force. The truth is hidden; in that a slave chooses to obey and as such creates an illusion for themselves. The illusion asserts that they have no choice. For those who do not knock at the door, the door shall remained closed.Yet, if anyone seeks a path and has a light to be their guide, they will find a Road that is bricked in yellow and Gold.

So for those that can not see a future, I imagine the reveal of the Magician's hat will be one of shock and awe. The studio light will light the audience with a faint green light with the suggestion to "Applaude". Most will clap vigorously to match or even boast within the crowd. the minority will think they saw the trick and wonder if they should clap. Only the experts will have seen the slieght of the Magician and can make a decision based on the true view of the act as art. Such a parable is the reality of this existence. Everyone is destined to make their choice. Those who choose to seek inside the bubble that is outside of the box will find great reward. Yet for those who chose to obey, they will find darkness waiting in the cool depths of the Abyss.

The will choose hate, they will choose rot, but most of all they will choose ..Rapture.

\--Alexander D. Sullivan


	2. Dämmerung

To the Reader, I hope you will join me on this freehanded adventure! Bioshock is one of my all time favorite stories, so I will try to stick to that style of storytelling in honor of the story itself. Thank you for your time and now would you kindly enjoy.

Act I:

Time, is it an illusion or is it a frequency that binds it all together? You can change the variables, change the story but no matter the cause, it is time that will remain the same.

"The only truth I have found is that no matter the plot; the protagonists' final test is time." - Rosalinda Lutece

It was 11:48 am, Sunday 1978; a fresh cold mist rose off the port side of the deck. This reminded me of what we were headed for, Southern waters. With that being said there was definitely no chance of a Carribean bay for weeks. Even less of a chance of an enjoyable meal. Mornings like this take me back to me being a kid. It was my Dad's way of life that lead me to believe in tales and search for treasures. After WWII I grouped up with a fee old sailors and became a wanderer.. Then the news about this place began to spill into every harbor we docked. A city... No Gods, No kings. Silly, is what is was.

But For those who were damned to that detritus, the sunken castle, they deserved every part of their despair! After it came out that Lady Patricé Tennenbaum confirmed the rumors of the dystopian wreckage, a horror of a science experiment gone mad? True? Treasure hunters, and men like me who had seen death came from far and wide for the guts; and not only to unearth crazy contraptions. We came for the legend. The Adam. Spme came to sell it, others wanted to try it.

It was a new drug, one that made you have the powers of God. Not to mention it came power packed with a high that'd make the growing drug crisis obsolete. It would hand the largest suppliers a fresh market and if it ever got regulations the demand would become infinite. Look, I never said I had any ethics, ok? This shit is supposed to be the next wave and these German fuckers are offering the highest pay. Im notsure how. The war basically took their funds. But they buy this shit wholesale, above market value, so if they are waking Hitler up atleast I'm getting rich before the fallout.

Dr. Eleanor Lamb sits down there locked up still trying to play Mother Goose to that city, in a dying machine profitting off of all of it. Since she showed them where to find adam the legal buyers owe her 15% royalties. Ill be honest this is my second trip down to that fucking pit of anguish; and I'm more nervous than first time.

A Blue light waves over our horizon followed by grey static. thunder and lightning erupt in every inch of the atmosphere and I begin to feel faint and nauseated.

In front of me I see a beautiful woman. Eyes bronze with flowing red hair she is an angel. That's when I lost my consciousness.

"Percy!"

I felt doped I had passed out hard. How long I wasn't sure there was a thick fog over the sky now.

"Percy!" A deckhand called again.

I scurried up, put on my knickers and ran up top. To my dismay the entire ship is docked to an ice shelf, frozen to this godforsaken light house in the middle of the damn sea.

"We shouldn't be near South enough to hit Ice? And is that the bloody light house to the trash heap below? We were surely two days out?"

"Strange storm blew over and we all ran for the barracks, came back out and here we were."

The shiphand shows me extensive damage to the bow, we will need repairs or we are stuck on this shelf. I'll have to check the Lighthouse for an items I could salvage for repairs. Or... worste case we take that damn death bubble into the city and gather supplies. God forbid.

"Alright!" I exclaimed, "you guys stay here while I look around for scrap metal maybe we can fashion a fix. In the meantime call for Dr. Lamb and prepare the diving bell to retrieve the specimen."

The deal was agreed upon so I gathered my trinkets and necessities and approached the tower. Funny, I remember this door being a strong bronze? Seems now to be maybe marble. Perhaps it was plated, yes that had to be it, and the weathering has removed that shell? In three weeks... I enter the room and for a moment I am stone cold frozen. No longer the face of Andrew Ryan, but a statue of a woman in blue, her hair was neck length and she had a gaze that would melt the film scene to butter. This is not The lighthouse we had been excavating!

Above the statue there were words etched in fine marble ... "The offering is a choice. One of Life or Death"

That was more than chilling. I need to find supplies, I am not comfortable with this location. On the second floor I am greeted by the same woman I saw before I fainted. Only she looks older. Sitting in a chair next to a man who could her twin.

"Um,hello"

"I do say, he doesnt seems to be aware of the changes"

The male lead off.

"Of course he isn't, nothing has even happened"

The woman remarked.

" you mean it didn't happen" he shot back

" But this time" she started

"It will" he finished.

"Undoubtedly"

These two were nutjobs and i was feeling disoriented.

"Who are you people"

"The question is who are you?"

The woman stood and walked towards me.

"And what do you choose?"

Said the man in background

"Life or Death?" She gazed into my eyes

"The Bird?" He says

"Or the Cage?"

She whispered deep into my soul.

A lightbulb bursts... and inthe flash the travelers are mysteriously gone. I'm now thoroughly convinced my crew has spiked my Vodka.

My nose is bleeding..

Shaken from my core, I decide it is time to leave this building of spirits or what have you. It's only then I notice out of the corner of my eye, behind the wall the male traveler was leaning on there is a large metal plating. it would do the job we needed for the patch. No bolts though. Not sure how this this is so attached to this god damned wall.

Across the room there is a small statue of goat. Emblazened with the words " At the heart of the fire there is a single flame "..funny because a single flame actually starts from an ember. Sounds like a riddle ...Oddly enough.. "wait..yeah this is an altar" I need embers. But why do I need embers?...just what do you do?

I gather some straw brush from a corner with a kerosene lamp as well. I should be able to make plenty of small ember piles if I can find a source of fire. Ill need to return to the ship.

Back out at the ship my two crewmates seem to be nowhere in sight. I scream for them. Maybe, they decided to go ahead and enter the diving bell of course!

None the less we have have the supplies I need to solve this riddle and easy my affixation. I enter the large marble door again, the strange judging face of the woman glaring at me. Daring, high cheek bones, beutiful but terrifying. I make sure to pass quickly as not to endure the intimidation it strikes in me. Coming into the room with the altar and I craft my effigy. Once it gets thick and smouldering i throw it in the altars bowl. As if it were clockwork i begin to here the sounds of activation of gears. A steam whistle , thanks to my extensive time learning the language of music, plays the notes i recognize as C-A-G-E.

The metal wall creeks upward and is now exposed and im face to face with a machine like chair implanted on thick ice. The room became twice as frigid. This door must have been sealed for decades! But the chair looked like something out of one of those new films of the future! A Snap and rumble. I'm no dummy that was the marble door above I'm locked in. That chair... its like the bubble from the city ..from Rapture. "What in the?"

"Hello?? Come in hello?"

A small radio attached to a stand in front of the chair let off with a harsh static.

Again, "I'm showing someone opened the velo-route... are you their! This is an S.O.S!"


	3. Duality

"I Repeat this is an S.O.S, do you hear me?"

I decided then that this might be my only chance to get out of this nut house.

"He-he-hello", I managed.

"Thank the divine! You have to help me! This place it's freezing and its dead. I dont know who you are but you're my only hope of getting out of here!"

"How can i help you?"

"The chair, on the Velo-route, it leads into the temples -err , should i say, into the city. Please, Listen. Get down here and help me!"

Something compels me to follow the strangers instructions. Whether it's sympathy or just feeling optionless i dig in.

" Ok im seated and strapped in, how do I start the machine?"

"just hit that green pad on the left twice and hold your breath!"

"Why do i need too hold my..."

Woah! Ziiiiiiiip, clank! Whipp...ziiiiiip, click, pop!

Suddenly i was flying backwards through a freezing tunnel down, down, down air getting thicker and thicker. I couldn't handle it. Try to catch my breath was pointless, I passed out.

In my mind's eye as I search for consciousness, I am made a spectator of a curious foggy event. A shrouded figure approaches me.

"The choice is simple Mr. Percy. You stole from a very wealthy person. The savior is showing you her grace. "

"So what will it be Life or Death?"

I breathe in*

I feel hyper aware as i zoom into consciousness, breathing heavily, lights around me are bright.

"Are you there?" The voice comes through the radio.

Reaching over I grab the radio and compose myself,

"Yeah, mustve passed out from the pressure."

"The Velo-route was a shit model should have been decommissioned immediately. I'm glad you were one of the lucky ones."

Funny, the voice of the stranger had just told me they were lost? How'd they know about machine? I hardly know about...

I suddenly realize where I am, A Pristine chapel.

Pure marble walls and ceilings, glowing with gold inlays. The same woman from the statue above is exaulted in the form of a mural in rose glass windows.

" The savior planted a seed. The lamb shall shed her blood, and the tree will give us it's fruits."

Rapture was nutty.. but this shit was down right cultist. I feel like I walked right into the Vatican of insanity.

"I know youre confused stranger, but soon you're gonna see, this light house, it's only one of many! Millions. Each the same, each different. I made a mistake and it ended me up here. I want to tell you a story"

This guy wasnt making sense? Millions of underwater cities. Im sorry but i've sailed and not only have I not seen a million light houses, there's just not enough ocean buddy.

"What city were you headed to", the voice inquired.

I paused, "Rapture, or atleast what's left of it"

"Id give my right arm to be in Rapture right now." He laughed " but, alas, no turning back time now."

"Where are we?"

"Hmmpp.. welcome to Zion kid. You see Zion is Rapture, or better yet, Rapture is Zipn. In this lighthouse when the ego of Andrew Ryan became a plague to the founders of Rapture. Someone wanted him gone. They say a young man was paid to assassinate him, and he was killed at a coffee shop while visiting his hometown. Which was luck to begin with, it was the only move he ever let them know, some say he wanted to die. But, no matter how you see it, fact is, he died before the realization of his own utopia could be established. Naturally, the council for Rapture's creation still had to continue the project with Dr. Sofia Lamb chosen to head the vision. Thus ,Rapture was dissolved and Zion was born. A city where Family, and values were the center of culture. Moralism and altruism were a driving factor of the leading system. They made leaps in science.No war, no greed, it was a perfect Utopia. That is until, atleast, a door was opened."

"Well it Looks like an empty castle to me bud; and I've seen the wasteland leftover from Andrew Ryan. Rapture was built! You are wrong. Besides, did you not say you were lost or something? Seems like you know alot about this place?" I was proud of myself in that exchange.

A moment of silence, " you'll see kid. Zion isnt empty, nor is it a castle by any means... it's a frozen grave. Full of stories." He paused again, "Look the name is Sampson. and What'd you say your name was friend?"

"I didnt, Percy... Percy..ugghhh" my brain screeched as I tried to think of my last name my eyes teared from the pain. Everything went fuzzy my nose started bleeding, again.

"You ok Percy?"

"Yeah, migraines."

"Migraines huh? Let's get you to the medical pavilion for some supplies and medicine. Then I'll tell you how to get to my location. Im not far, we can meet in the ... As Sampson spoke the radio slowed and quieted. Dead!

The damned battery gave out! I'll have to find a new battery. Sampson told me supplies will be at the Pavilion. I guess i need to find it, maybe theyll have more than just tylenol.

As I walked towards the back of the strange room I I was in. I passed a room with a glass figure of a woman dressed in blue; hair made of electricity and fire in her eyes. It was the same as the woman from the lighthouse and the mural just behind me, only it seemed to have some sort of energy or electricity about it. She was some sort of God here, atleast from the representation. And he could feel her presence...


	4. As Above

Let's step out for a moment. As, I imagine it's important that we clear up some facts before we go any further.

You see a few years back a man named Jack Ryan, washed up on shore with a bunch of little girls. They were Malnourished, filthy, and uneducated. For whatever reason he thought it wise to report the existence of an underwater city to authorities. They laughed in his face. He claimed to have saved these girls from Rapture. A lace where scientists had found a plant that was pliable in altering genetic codes. Apparently these people were at the bottom of a trench getting superpowers but frying their brains in the process. Wierdest part is apparently the regulations for scientific research werent exactly up to federal standards. They were using small girls as hosts for this chemical.

Now that caught the cops attention. Bunch of little girls with arms covered in needle tracks and bruises. I never understood the most of it. You see, I fought in World War II and had heard rumors of large supplies of steel being moved to an undisclosed location in the Ocean and a crazed billionaire trying to build a city at the bottom. It was rumors though and by all likelihood this Jack Ryan creep was playing off an old fear to absolve him of his sins. Well of course he catches a federal indictment. Those girls were so fucked up he had them believing this shit too. It became the media's big story. I remember the news headlines. "The little sisters and their Big daddy". Pedophiles disgust me. The whole case was televised. Once he was found guilty, they threw him in the deepest cell under the oldest prison in God knows where. If you ask me it served him right.

That is until a few years later, Eleanor lamb washes up on the same shore. Now, by this time the crazies had became obsessed with Rapture and were always looking for the mythical Lighthouse. So when this broad washes up telling the same story, it caught headway. This time She gave us coordinates and everything. We found it. Turns out it was real all along.

These peope were an infestation to Politics for reasons I am baffled to. That bitch ran for public office in New York and won. She got funded to use taxpayers money to harvest adam and research it for use in the medical field. That's when things got shakey.

Patricé Tenenbaum the woman's rights activist, who just so happened to be one of those little sisters came out saying that Lamb had to have been corrupted, because anybody who had come int touch with it, saw and knew that adam was nothing but danger. Coincidently that is also when the black market saw the substance appear and it came with a price tag that was about to skyrocket. It became the next gold rush essentially.

That drove Lamb back to Rapture, where she protected her investment from home. She was able to get the area marked for goverment use only. So all known cache's of adam had to come from the inside, or guys like me that knew how to avoid government eye. Lamb was qouted as saying, "I have began to understand Family and what the word truly means. That is why I must return home and rebuild the city."

I think all of these sick fucks they've found in that dump of a city deserve to die, honestly. The decisions made down in that hole will haunt generations of families.


	5. Welcome to the family

Act II:

This place was a haven compared to the waste I had seen in Rapture. I just couldnt understand, why put it in ice? I initially felt threatened due to the experiences I had digging through certain old department stores in raptures business sector. God only knows how those freaks stayed alive down there. But when we came to harvest the adam, they were there. Ready to lose limb and life for their precious adam.

As for this place it seems noone is left. I found a map of the area I was in. The "conditioning " floor. Seems like there is a Medical closet on the other side , from what im reading. But the way is blocked by a large wall of ice. Why the hell are there all these cities in the oceans and how did we not know.

Strange enough the first thought that passed through my mind on defeating the ice wall was biting into one of those damn adam plants. Throwing fire all over it. But none of that here. Ill have to take a longer way around. The map shows a hidden exit in the back of a nearby shop. "Dr. Adler's Beautiful People"

The shop is strange. Very grotesque pictures of women with their noses botched. Next to pictures of the same women so beautiful you would think aphrodite came down and kissed the painters hand. The most odd thing by far about this shop is that I smell cigarette smoke clear as day. Not old must. Someone is here..

I look around for a weapon. Anything. Nearby is a small tank of Co2. Its empty but small enough that i could use it as a bat. I creep through the layers of the shop, the offices, the bathrooms; notably picking up any useful items. Then i come to a stairwell. Its not a stairwell as for a house. But closer to a cellar of a church and there is a flickering light danicng in twirls of excitement bouncing off the frostbit wood.

"Come to play a game, little dragon?"

I jumped to my gaurd ready to pounce on anything that moved. Analyzing in front of me, the hair on my neck standing. My hearing zoomed in as that of a falcon.

"Well, come now I won't bite! After all whats a little forgivness between family?"

"Family?" I thought to myself, "Lamb... she returned to Rapture for the family?" , What does that mean?

"Little dragon, are you still there?"

"Little dragon, please listen!"

My attention snapped, i couldn't resist the urge to take the winding steps to the basement and face whatever gruesome encounter awaited me.

" ahh little dragon, my my, i was almost worried!"

The man grimmaced.

He has greased hair, long and unkempt. A pale almost purple skin, and eyes bluer than that of the center of a sapphire. He was drunk or strung out. No doubt about it.

" tell me little dragon what makes you want to come back?, is it the pain? Does it make you feel alive?"

They say it's therapuetic to revisit your past. I could understand that. The memories I have of being young, before the war. But why would anyone want to relive true pain? Loss, men you fought beside gone... all gone.

"No matter, it seems she put quite the spell on you.. hmmm?...Really got you brain in a scramble?"

"What are you talking about?"

I barked in force.

Easing back , "little dragon" he smiled "i'm here to give you wings!"

"Please listen"

I focused into his voice

"Turn around"

My body performed a 180

"Drop to your knees"

I instantly comply

"Yes, yes little dragon... you've got a secret... now its time to see.. how. We are going to get it out!"

That confused me even more, i just needed to know how to get back to the top side. " look sir, i dont mean.. CLANKKKKKK. My vision fading ... out.

(Voices in the distant)

"We could end it all right here Adler!"

"Calm down Suchong , remember none of us would be here if you would have listened to the tree, besides he's already accepted the thorn. He is throught with conditioning"

Suchong hisses, "see to it the patient is on full surveillance"

(A third voice softly)

"No"

" Take him to Jack, he knows who this one is"

" mommy he's an angel"

Suchong walks away muttering curses, Harvey sighs in relief and concern.

"Are you sure Ms. Fontaine"

"I'm sure Harvey, this one is a bird"

I lose all consciousness...

Fluttering images fill my field... im not awake. This is some sort of dream, but it's real.

"The choice is simple Mr. Percy, you stole from a very wealthy person. The savior is giving you her grace."

I recognize him as the traveller from the light house.

"What did I steal?"

"Mr. Percy please listen! don't act oblivious...in the mean time until You give it back...sleep..."

water splashed my face*

Coughs and spitting; everywhere. " what.. the hell"

Harvey cawed from behind a wall " good morning little dragon! Are you hungry?"

And God was I. "Yes please," i said in a timid manner. They wouldn't poison me. If so they'd done it by now.

Harvey came out and sat down, " i know youre probably overwhelmed. Not sure where you are. There is a reason for that! Personally little dragon i would love to be the one that held your wings; but... alas I can only lead you deeper into the show."

"I dont get it", truly I was confused

"Do you smoke?"

I didn't understand the relevance.

"Do you smoke?"

"Sure, half a pack a day" i glared at him in curiousity.

"Try these"

I catch a pack of pre-rolled cigarettes. Except they are colorful.

"Flora Flitwick's Elementix"

"What's this, doesnt look like any sqaure I've ever came across"

Harvey giggled, "imagine each color as an element. Smoke a green one and you'll be controlling plant life like nothing. Red, and fire will flow from your fists! You can find them at vending machines around the cathedral."

"However, right now youre headed to meet someone little dragon and I suppose... he will be happy to see you"

I internalized what I was being told. It was so close to the stories from Rapture. The founders.. Lamb. What Sampson told me about the death of Andrew Ryan. What if this was Rapture. Only it wasnt? .. and on that note who in this place could ever be happy to see him? But the biggest question that name he heard, before he passed out... Fontaine. He knew that name.

I had to know,

" Adler"

"Yes? Little dragon?"

"When I was coming down the stairs you called me family? What did you mean by that?"

Harvey grinned, "That little dragon, you will learn behind the doors" he cackled as we rode an elevator to the 30 floor.


	6. Audio log: Zion is the Way

"Greta Sellers: Zion is the way"

Date: xxx

Mother told me, "Greta, Lady Lamb will lead us to a new future! I can see it too! Mother is right! Eleanor has a logical solution for all of life's problem and she promises that the Savior will provide the fruits of our efforts. I've seen her! The Savior! She was singing and playing with a bird and then BOOM she made roses fly all around us. It was marvelous!! Too bad it was only in a dream. But thats ok Lady Lamb says soon we will all make our choice. I choose The Savior!


	7. Constants

The elevator door opened to a room with maybe 4 people in it , aside from me and Harvey.

A man short haired long beard..

Chain links tattooed on his wrist speaks softly; his back turned from me.

"How the hell are your alive Percy?"

He knew my name.. I was frozen solid.who was this?

No words formed.

"Percy, you chose Death"

Well, even though i was certainly visualizing the 500 ways that death could probably happen to me at this moment. I had definitely not chose to die. This was just my fucking luck.

" excuse me but I have no idea who you are."

I slid out.

He turned so I could see his face. I knew it immediately. It was The man from the news. The one I called a pedophile.. the man i condemned to a prison was locked in this one with me. "Jack Ryan"

He raised an eyebrow, "That's right Percy... so it is you, how did you do it? How did you escape the choice? And why are you back?"

" I have no idea what you mean?" I was agitated now " what choice, where are we and why does everybody know me?"

"Stop!" Jack exclaimed violently "Percy what years is it?"

"1978"

"And who is Andrew Ryan"

" The guy who built that city under water that went batshit insane! The one you claimed you escaped!"

" so you're not Percy" he smirked

I more distraught that ever. Stared into his rugged face.

"Where am I?"

"Its funny that you ask that Percy! Because now, I know that Eleanor lied. It's the opposite of what we thought. You are the cage...not the bird."

He cackled, " So interesting! Funny how destiny has a way of reversing on you..."

" You see Percy,somehow ,some way , Eleanor Lamb made a battery. Zion was once a grand place to live in everyone in peace. We all knew that the city was founded on the blood of my father, even though Sofia Lamb did a damn fine job of maintaining a modern lifestyle. My position on the board gauranteed inclusion in living qaurters. When Sofia passed, Eleanor and Suchong got into a huge argument over Flora Flitwick's sources for her Elementix sticks. Turned out that Suchong had got in bed with some wierd shit. That's when Eleanor had us gather to vote that the tree should be the provider of any commercial medical properties. A run at control. She defunded all of Suchong's work and had the tree opened multiple facilities to continue that work in the name of Lamb. But soon the great freeze came. And only the tree knows why."

"But I know something now..that battery, she made.. i it brought you here."

There was a silence in the room.

Jack added " for all we know our Percy is dead or stuck in something none of us can understand."

" for as much as you said, you still didn't tell me shit!"

I felt I was being toyed with.

"I told you everything you just dont know how to listen"

He was scarcastic.

"What is the tree" I asked

" now that is the right question Percy. What is the tree indeed? It all has to do with those of us who are consant, and those who are not." He was smiling evilly

"So what you're telling me is, that I am in a different ... time???"

"Time, dimension, life.. call it what you want. You chose a real shit hole to fall into too." Ryan was amused.

"Fine then, so I have no care to be here I just want to go back to America. Mid west preferred."

"Well it's a little too late for that. But you can still open doors right?"

That was a funny question. "Open doors?"

"Yea? Ya know tears? Other dimensions?"

I needed an exit off of this ride. Whatever I smoked it was too strong! Did he just ask me to open another dimension?

"No, nothing like that"

"Well then what the fuck good are ya?"

" I was a heavy gunner in World War 2"

Ryan looked to a young African American woman and gave her a smile.

"Hand him a gun daisy"

...Sampson, I hd forgotten the medical pavilion. Supplies .. and a battery.

"Daisy .. umm do you have a battery for this radio?"

Daisy looked suspicious, " yeah, I got one but aint nobody in Zion worth talking to got one of these radios.

Who you trying to talk to?"

My instincts told me the truth could be reserved for now,

Whatever was going on was deeper than what I was being shown.

"Just someone I promised to help."


	8. Sowing seeds

Daisy Fitzroy, she may have appeared to be just a lower class tom girl. But she had the ability to move crowds. Maybe not here in Zion; but I mean what crowds are left?

But she once ruled a fierce movement of people. These cats around Zion were nothing like the one's from Columbia though. Then again 1978 is nothing like 1912. The question was how many more times would Rose talk her into jumping? How many dead bodies? Tragedies of fate would it take to reach the desired results?

Maybe that's why this kid was different for Daisy. He didn't show up in any other timeline that she had visited? Yet he was so closely looped in the story this time.Of course the story seemed different this time .Rose would never tell Daisy the full truth anyway.

"Who needs help in Zion? Last I checked it's an empty city with dying Gods." Daisy caught Percy off guard with that one.

Percy eased himself as he suffered from the calculations in his mind.

"Gods?"

"That's right child.. and I've met every one of them, here or there. But I have never met you before this time." She raised her eyebrows. " That makes you an unknown... Do you understand? so tell me...who would be asking the question mark in this hell for help?"

I was taught not to ask questions in the Navy.Do as you're told is more of a habit after years of reinforcment. But my father taught me to make sure you didn't fucked in the deal. Daisy seemed to represent that same mind frame.

"Sounds like you're the only one around here being honest...Sampson"

That caught Daisy's ear. But that detail was meant to be hidden. " Sampson is a myth child" she glared at the floor as she held out a handgun and two small yellow..battery packs.

"Well.. i've spoken with a man who claims to be Sampson."

Daisy seemed offended,

"Claims need evidence or else they are just that."

We combatted with our eyes

"Claims"

"I'll prove it"

"Be my guest!" She gloated

Easy enough, i'll just attach this power pack.

It's an old radio..fragile at that. But simple enough. After some work i got the pack in place and powered up.

"Sampson.. it's Percy. Are you there?"

Silence...

"Come in Sampson."

More silence...

(A small crackle comes over the radio.

A female voice that is unfamiliar.)

" Percivall?"

That was my full first name... who in the hell was this now.

"Who...who is this?"

"Hmmph Percivall.. is dead you're not him, now please dial out of this channel as it is property of the Lamb family."

"What the hell?" I couldnt understand what was going on.

"Yeah.. Sampson's real alright." She rolled her eyes "And you talked to him on Eleanor Lamb's personal line"

"That was Eleanor Lamb?" I was shocked.

" no child that was a surrogate. A part of the family"

Could that be? Could the man claiming to need help have been a spy within the Lamb empire? Sampson seemed to know as soon as the Velo-Route opened. He knew so much about the history. He was getting nowhere and now he was in a frozen cave in the middle of the ocean, totings guns again. Except this time there isnt a fancy government check and a broad waiting for me to come fulfill her fantasies. I'm stuck in someone's game.

Daisy seemed to still be measuring me out , "forget it, and you keep the batteries. Consider it a favor." She continued, "Jack wants us to see if we can find a way to heat the old hatch in the learning center; that leads to The educational facilities. I guess he's feelin' a thirst for higher learning" her wit was showing.

"Adler handed me these" i flashed the elementix.

"Those are nasty business, ive seen all sorts of power altering drinks and pills. But, that bitch Flora has a special place reserved in hell!" Daisy seemed charged.

"Whats so bad about them?"

"It's dried adam, soaked in concentrates of tonics and gels known as plasmids. They mix the ingredients. Dry it into a smokable substance and feed em to the public. People started opening them and mixing the substances and end up with powers that would deform them, addict them, or straight kill them."

"Where'd they find the adam?"

Daisy was a straight forward woman. Very powerful... i could feel her essence. She gave me a sense of comfort and hope somehow.

" i have a theory for that, but so far Ms. Rose had been very thorough at keeping me in the distance"

"You said this place is a graveyard for God's... are you a God?"

She was visibly annoyed, "No I made a deal with Ms. Rose to complete this whole thing. This just so happens to be where her work has brought us"

"You keep saying Ms.Rose?"

" Percy there is one thing I know. You are a new puzzle piece and you are here for reason. The fact that you are here... she knows" Daisy looked into the distance, "but why are you so important? That is what we gone find out! Now let's get down to the learning center."

I could follow this woman, she could be my ticket out of this nightmare. For now one this was sure, she is my best hope. Gods? What did that mean? I could ask but something told me that I was on my way to finding out.


	9. Audio log 2 :Choice?

"Frank Tiller: Choice?"

Date:xxx

"When they told us we had a choice to escape the remants of war, and come to a city where people lived as one i thought they were mad. Then we get here and it is Heaven touching earth. Somewhere deep in these halls the Lamb laid down her life so the savior could rise."

"That's all well of course, only now I am hearing that The family is turning the authority in Zion over to the tree. They're nuts!? Now everyone the tree deems guilty has to make the choice. What good is a choice if the same choice that free's you... makes you a slave?"


	10. Love Potions: Pt I

Despite the fact that I'm almost certain that I knocked myself into lala-land; that all of this is a dream, or my brain's clever way of dealing with the mental institution I was condemned to. I was beginning to feel eased about being here.

I mean, honestly, What was I to do? Surely not writhe on the floor ,crying, like a kid who lost his mom at Disney World. No, I was thrown into a fight. That's what i'll have to do.

"Daisy, what happened to everyone in Zion? The diaries i've seen, pictures i've found, they all say it was a beautiful place to live... Now everyone is just gone?"

Daisy welcomed the break in silence. This place was so quiet that walking the corridors of both the physical and mental plateaus frequently invited her to try psychosis on for a size.

"Im not sure, we showed up only just recently You see Ms. Rose used to have a brother, Robert. All I know is we had just came to that city they called Rapture and Mr. Robert's was going to visit an old friend. Guy owed some pretty powerful people a debt, we were there to send a message. Try to wake the bastard up. We always do."

She seemed to be on a complete different subject.

" im sorry Daisy.. I don...

"Only this time it wasn't him, it was...her...that poor child. Mr. Robert was so shocked he stumbled over a railing and fell, like lightning from the sky... Columbia wasn't exactly ever a friend to those of a clumsy nature.Ms. Rose wasn't phased as she was sure she could just pull him out of another time. Replace him. Only she couldn't find him. We went from time-to-time, years. That is until she found this place. We dropped into Lamb headquarters and you would have thought Dr.Lamb had known Ms. Rose for a century. Real friendly, then they tossed me out here in the Cathedral. Jack found me freezing my ass off in the main hall and took me in. I've been working with him ever since. Turning on broken parts of the city. He believes this "great freeze" is to blame for the whole city of folk vanishing, but he won't talk about it."

Daisy's story was interesting, atleast the parts I understood. But it failed to answer my question. This place was a question mark as much as the people left here. She said that I was the only one that she didn't know. However the ones from around here sure seem to know alot about me. "Columbia?"

Daisy smiled, " Hmm... yea Columbia. Home."

Just then she peared over my shoulder holding back a tear. "Look! That's the access panel for the learning center." Daisy alerted me.

In front of me, a medium sized gold bevel in the middle of the wall. It is fitted with a songbird engraved on a sqaure panel no larger that 2 ft wide. Biggest probem is this wall is behind a wall. A wall made of ice, Probably 10 inches thick.

"We can pick through it" she said, " it'll take a few hours, alot of work, but it can be done."

She was right, we had the tools. but even so, after getting access to that panel we need a way to heat the center. I pulled the Elementix out of my pocket. How bad could they be? I'd tasted my fair share of Opium from the new age guys coming back from Vietnam. Not to mention I was anxious as hell and had been dying for a cigarette. I pulled a red one out, it red "blaze" along the side. The pack had matches with it, as soon as i go to strike it."

"You sure about that Mr. Percy? It's your funeral."

I smirked, "well you said this was a grave." I lit the cigarette " maybe I'm already dead"

Inhale.


	11. Excerpt From the desk of Flora Flitwick

From the desk of Flora Flitwick,

"It is no coincidence that the power contained in my products induce explosively heavy euphoria. What would you expect from a mixture so fine it weave's the new patterns of your genetic code as the smoke lays on your esophagus? A brain doesn't function simply on seperate pieces; it is a unit. That unit communicates. That unit knows the moment you introduce that power to your body. Anything is possible!

As for the addictive and mental issues, i suppose

what would be needed is to block the future products from accessing the links between pleasure and power. But, that would require authorization from Sofia Lamb.Here at Elementix We make a product for masses to use to assist their lives. We are not in the business of pharmecutical psychotics. Tampering with the structure of the ingredients to block mental communications is a medical venture. Leave it to them."

To the Lamb Family member it concerns


	12. Love Potions: Pt II

Exhale.

Have you ever jumped off of a cliff? Not suicide or anything of that matter; But let's say a steep cliff at the lake on a summer swim trip? The feeling of that moment of free fall speed, with no control over the outcome. It comes with a punch of adrenaline and time slows as you rocket towards the water. Then, Splash! Youre enveloped in the water. Relaxing and lifting the weight of your body to the top as you are covered in the water's embrace.

That is as close as I can get to describing the feeling of the first 10 seconds after I exhaled the chemical. My blood pressure spiked; I felt like I was being microwaved from the inside. I let out screams of pain from my physical torment but my mind was overflowing with the most pleasure I had ever experienced. Suddenly my fingertips started smoking. I was panicking, sweating, laughing. I couldn't understand this event. My fingers become hard and callused. Suddenly it all quit and all i felt was the mental relaxation and focus. It was the best of both worlds.

Once I was aware of my surroundings again Daisy was locked in on me. I noticed her hand on the trigger of her pistol. " You'll seek that feeling for the rest of your days if you continue Mr. Percy, a slave to that smoke. Choose wisely."

She was right too. I wanted to hit it again. But I could tell my mental state wasnt prepared. But that isn't the grand purpose; the big what, that these things were made for. I felt my fingertips, they were hard as rock. I stretched out my hand towards the wall of ice and imagined myself as a dragon, full of fire, ready to be released. I focused on that fire... and released.

Fire flies from my fingertips, flowing like a flame torch on a napalm tank. This stuff was an inferno of heat. I pulled my other hand up and let the power flow. This did something for me too. My brain felt the release of the flames as it would a sexual release. Endorphins rushed to my brain tickling my insides. I was in love with this power.

It took maybe 30 seconds to melt the entire wall of ice. All 10 inches of it, and that's not including the bit of wall i scorched. I guess I rode out the feeling a little too long. But the job was done and now the effects of the smoke was wearing off. Fleeting high. It's true this adam was some nasty shit. Those people in Rapture. They were putting the shit straight into their bloodstream. No wonder the whole damn city went crazy.

"That'll do just fine. This hatch leads straight into the facility. From what Jack tells me it should have two exits and one leads to the boiler room. If we can bring the facility back to temperature we should be able to bring some of the machines back on. That would atleast provide enough heat for us to have a camp while we figure out how to get into Lamb's offices" Daisy was prepared. But that last line shocked me.

"Lamb's offices?"

Daisy let out a single laugh that was overlayed with disbelief, "What did you think we were doing down here? Waiting to die?" I didn't have an answer, " No, Lamb has turned this paradise into a prison. Jack aims to take her down and end the freeze. He believe's it is the only way to bring back his family and the citizens of Zion."

" How do we even know what we are going up against? If these people are all Gods as you say, what kind of war are we fighting?" I was pissed. I did not sign up for war. " I will not die down here!"

" Mr. Percy.. if we are lucky; we will all die down here"

Daisy studied my reaction then turned around; she pulled the panel from the wall and jumped in head first.

As I saw her body crawling deeper into the darkness my fear seemed to return. This place wasn't just a grave for God's, Percy could now tell. Daisy believed this was also her grave... maybe it was mine too.


	13. The Blood of the Lamb

I was only maybe four feet behind Daisy in the crawl space. Amazing craftsmanship, even the air ducts are marble with bronze metal fittings inside the tract. No detail was spared in making Zion.

Daisy called from ahead, "Here is the fork, you go left. I'll go right. If jack's map is right they both should meet in the central assembly hall. If you hit the boiler room be sure to turn it on and get these pipes thawing."

Despite the fact that she was demanding and I was now becoming aware of my own mortality, I followed her because of her strength. She was a natural leader. I wish I could say the same of myself.

I pulled a flashlight out of my lower pocket. We both gave each other a thumbs up. It was an agreement; we had to do what must me done. It was also an acknowledgment of a possible farewell. The grand finale if you will. What was waiting in this facility below was a mystery.

As I crawled I felt a slope, a sign we were getting closer to an exit. Now, a breeze passes by and I know I am close. When i come up on the access vent I notice the room below is a colorless empty ice box. I pull my hand out and focused on the flame. Nothing? Do I have to smoke the shit everytime? That seemed like a risk. For sure. I pull the box out. I had thrown the other "blaze" on the ground. No flames left,four green "druids", a blue "hyrda", and 4 purple "luckys". Either Adler avoided smoking the purple or he stocked up on it. Either way a hit of luck didn't sound dangerous at all, in fact it sounded like a great plan B. I figured it was worth the risk.

I light the smoke take a deep hit. I relax and wait for the rush. Nothing happens. I take another hit. What the fuck? Some great luck. Whatever it was, It was a dud. Tasted great but I don't feel lucky at all. I took one last hit and ashed it out. Suddenly I heard a sharp noise from the room below. I looked out and the ice on the vent and srurrounding wall was cracking and falling. One good kick and I should be able to get out of the crawl space. I turn my body over, rear my right foot back and kick. The vent cover flies down into the room, hits a large ice formation which proceeds to burst. It caused such an eruption the door below that was frozen shut was now wearing a hole the size of a 5'10 man 205 with big shoulders. Luck?

I slid down into the bare shack and out into the hall. Daisy must have landed in the boiler room. I'd have to meet her in the assembly hall. How far could that be? I decided to walk the corridor to see if anything leads me to the hall. To my surprise there was a busted announcment board in the main foyer with a water logged piece of paper that was clear enough to say that the hall was on the second floor room 3175. Just the information I needed! Which floor was I on I wondered? No worries just to my left is an arrow pointing down stairs to the second floor. How cool someone converted these stairs into a slide! I won't even have to walk! Wow this is going great! We are going to have this place up and running in no time!

I plopped down and zoomed down the aluminum slide to the second floor amd stopped right short of a dark room with a red light.

" Percy! Is that you?" I heard the voice of Daisy.

"Yeah, its me. Where are you?"

" stuck in this god damned vent you fool."

Just then I thought about how nice it would be if the thing would just fall off. Then to my bewilderment. It did!

Daisy hopped down relieved," Finally, i'd been beating on that things for minutes."

"I did that with my mind!" I exclaimed

"Do what?"Daisy sounded annoyed

"I thought it would be nice if it fell... then it did"

"You been smoking more of them sticks havent you?"

She scolded me " I told ya theyre dangerous"

" It didnt even work"

"Well youre tearing vents off walls with your thoughts, it mustve did something?" She asked me to show her the sticks. " Lucky? I aint seen these in the vending machines. Must be a home recipe."

" Adler, gave them to me."

That caught her attention, " Harvey Adler is an unknown as well. I'd be careful with him and his type."

"What do you mean he is an unkown too?"

" He wasn't in the story before neither, you two and Lady Fontaine."

There went that name again. I knew a man named Fontaine in the navy. A real hard ass with a knack for kissing the ranking officers asses. He went MIA during a tour of Japan and was never heard from again. But the rumor always was that he was seen talking to goverment officials outside the barracks the night he dissapeared. CIA most likely. We all knew noone dissapeared in war and the number of witnesses always made most of my platoon agree he was contracted into something.

"Who is Lady Fontaine?" I asked coyly.

"She is the anti-Lamb. Whenever Zion under went the great freeze Lady Fontaine rescued all of the children from the seed program and put them in a hiding place. That is why Lamb doesn't walk the halls or talk over the Radio. She knows the names of the one's who survived apparently. They are part of some age old order dedicated to preserving these stories. The way Jack put it to me. If you want to make a copy of a photo, you will need the original photo. Lamb somehow found a way to pull the originals to this city. Jack remember's all his lives, so do the others."

That was a complicated answer, it also included information i had no idea how to process.

"So this Lady Fontaine is hiding kids in Zion? Why?"

Daisy replied, " they are part of the tree. Whatever that might be. They are a small group of kids born with special gifts. They have similar characteristics and physical appearances that make them easy to spot. In fact they kind of look like you." She laughed

" and you said Lamb is collecting Originals? What does that mean?"

"I told you Ms. Rose has been researching this for years, these people are all involved in a grand story that always plays out the same. Lamb somehow found a way to find the original versions and lock them into Zion."

"That's why you call them God's" i was stunned

"What else could they be?"

We were distracted, the boiler lever was just behind Daisy. I reached over her brushing her shoulder as I reached. Our eyes met. " Slaves"

She shivered " to what?"

"Time"

A Steam whistle started to blow in the distance. The lights turned on and the vents rumbled. We had achieved our goal.

We hugged each other jumping for joy. Running into the assembly hall to find the exit back to the cathedral. Ready to tell Jack of our success.

All lights suddenly cut off. The security cameras ring with the most piercing sirens of alert. A loud feedback broadcast over a P.A system.

" Turn to the camera so I can see your face scum" the voice was soft but stern with confidence of control. "Please, listen"

I lost composure and turned my face to the camera.

"Stop Percy!" Daisy yelled.

The voice on the P.A system cracked "Percivall? .. you.. youre supposed to be dead! And who is that you are with? The slave girl from the scientist? Pity, you used to have some civility."

This was Eleanor Lamb no doubt about it. Percy didn't need to even ask.

"So what door brought you back here? I was certain the choice would be final for you, seeing as your birthright is so finite in state. No matter, now that I know you are here and turning on my city I have no choice but to release the family. Be careful who you fuck over Percivall. This time it is me who will be doing the damage."

"Fuck you!" I screamed.

" As it were I can not hear a word you are saying you filth, but you will not destroy what I have built. This city, my family, and the tree will be a legacy throughout eternity. I hope you are ready Percy, Oh and Isabella says she is dying to see you."

The P.A cut out. The lights returned to normal and yet Daisy and I were locked into each others psyche. Eleanor had just promised war on me and it sounded personal.

My radio began to create static.

" hello...?"

I pulled it out of my pocket

" come in, this is percy"

"Percy! It's Sampson, where in the name of Christ have you been?"


	14. Audio Log: Francesca Fontaine

Francesca Fontaine

Date:xxx

"Sofia Lamb was a ruler with vision. I liked that about her. It's unbelievable how untimely her death. Just as Rosalinda returns to help us figure out the clues to a much larger picture. Its a shame because for what it's worth that daughter of hers has the compulsivity of a trauma patient. Her need for control will take her mother's achievments to a crypt if she doesn't listen to her advisors. I suppose that means we should be prepared to modify our plans if indeed the rumors are true and she is in fact not the lamb who's blood will be shed.

Either way I myself have to protect my interests or the backlash of my support could be catastrophic. When the people find out what she is doing with this "Tree" there will be hangings in the rafts of the highest chapels. Therefore I will soon be publicly resigning as director of family affairs in Zion. I'll always remember Zion as Sofia's gift for the pain Rosalinda had revealed she could cause."


	15. Audio Log: Collapsing Memories

" Jack Ryan: Collaping the memory"

Date: xxx

I'm no scientist. That isnt to say I dont deem myself intelligent. But, the position that I am stuck in recently is one of significance to discovery. It seems that I am remembering other lives, not in a reincarnated type manner but more of a "parrallel to" one. As if I am a tape of film being ran over and over; and each film of me is somewhat similar, yet all together different. I have died, i have killed. I've been slave and a master. A Man and...

and yet, here I am. It seems the echoes of other lives are but memories and the body that one currently occupy projects them. I have no options of interacting with these lives. I am simply the spectator of a view of interlocking events , showing that I was designed to work with for a larger picture. As though I were a cog in a machine building life. It makes me feel both incredibly large while letting me know that I am infinitesimally small. It's strange holding so much in, both feelings and knowledge.


	16. Das Wunderkind

Act III:

"I call heaven and earth as witness this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live" Deuteronomy 30:19.

Brigid Tenenbaum was sixteen when she left Belarus to come to Zion. Her father was a German nationalist true to his colors. So when her mother had the opporitunity to take them to a haven for those who opposed the grips of the Agents of war, she took it. Brigid was even younger when she developed a love for discovery. So it was not by chance that she was the one to discover adam and it's capabilities. That was just it though, she could have done so much more than what she had amounted to. At the time Flora Flitwick's offer of seventy thousand dollars and a seat on the board of medicine for the family sounded like heaven. That is until the hemorages began, lapses of time lost to spikes in blood pressure triggered by the memories of a world where she did complete the medical work for adam. The faces of the children... it horrified her.

Brigid was only twenty six years old when she was committed to "Heavenly Rest" a home for the insane and also a research facility on autism. Luckily for the then lead psychologist and CEO of the family and Zion,Sofia Lamb. Because Tenenbaum had a way of singing like a canary about what she had experienced with the her memory, and the Lamb family had a way of being more involved in all things strange than appeared on the surface. The difference between Eleanor and her mother was that Sofia had seen behinds doors and used that to learn about what not to do , while Eleanor's only fascination was with creating doors that matched her desires.

That may seem confusing to a physicist, because energy never dies. Therefore to create from nothing is ridiculous from a stance of evidence. Being locked in an insane asylum and not knowing the status of current events did little to help Brigid know whether Eleanor had succeeded. So the question that always plagued Brigid when she was subject to Questioning after the death of Sofia was, "Am I really insane?". She had been in the asylum for so long that the memories were realer than ever. It would be with doubt that she was aware that fate was intent on answering that question for her.

There is no way of measuring time when you are in a windowless cell, in a frozen rock laid and carved at the bottom of the ocean. Unless of course youve been locked in it for over fifteen years with your only escape being your mind. Brigid navigated the lights among a see of oceans in her mind. It was mid-day and storming where she landed. She let herself take in the rain, she always enjoyed rain more than any weather because it had beens years since she felt it. Although she supposed it had been years since she had seen the sun as well.Suddenly a rogue wave pulls up the levee and drags her into the water snapping her neck on the stone as she lurched into the reservoir. Blackness envelopes her and she fades back into the cell. She stands up marks a talley on the wall, "Another day of not dying." Five thousand, three hundred and fourty six days of not dying.

Atleast that seemed close by her esitmates. It took her a while to be able to peel back enough layers of herself to work out a clock, but it was possible.

Noone had been to feed her in atleast three weeks. She guessed the other patients were dead or starving. She had long since seen enough life to learn the importance of proper preparation. That's why she wouldn't talk to Eleanor unless she was allowed to store canned goods and have a living space with materials for writing and crafts. As Heavenly Rest's longest resident it was the least she deserved. That stash of green beans and carrots wasn't going to do much longer, and she had seen alot of versions of herself. To her knowledge none of the other Brigids' were willing to drink acrylic paint and eat card stock either. What was going on in Zion. One thing she knew for sure is it involved Eleanor Lamb, Francesca Fontaine, and Flora Flitwick. The Holy Goddamned trinity of Zion.

She lay in her bed, scanning an endless space of possibilities and found herself in Belarus, Paris, then Brazil; staring at a sunset with a small girl playing in the sand along the beach of a man-made lake. Why couldn't this be her reality? Just then the water churns and splashes. A round mobile unit floats on to the surface of the water, a metal devil jumps from the unit and lets out a high pitched sqeaul as it steals the child and jumps into the unit, which promptly dips back into the water. Brigid jumps awake. That was a nightmare. It was common for her to remember that reality in her dreams. Sometimes she believed her dreams were the reality and the room was just a dream. But, if you asked her which one she wanted to be in she would choose the one that she died faster in. She closes her eyes again. A bullet penatrates her chest and she bleeds out. Day number five thousand, three hundred and fourty seven... BANG! She winced, still in the memory! Nothing happened, she opened her eyes. she was still in her room?

Did she just hear a real gun shot?!

"HELPPPPP!!!!!"


	17. Elementix Medical Licensing

To whom it may concern,

From the desk of Eleanor lamb Family, an authorization of medical engineering for Flitwick MFG Co. The authorization names the benefactors and owners of ADAM as Eleanor Lamb and Flora Flitwick. This certifies Any work regaurding psychoactive properties of the patented product "Elementix" or any future product containing the chemicals derived or; and in analogue of the substance ADAM.

All work published and recorded regaurding ADAM is to be subject to the use of the Tree and is the intellectual property of the Family.

This also certifies any public reports on the dangers and side effects of Elementix or products containing ADAM to be subject to censorship within the judgment of The Family press.

Thank you,

Eleanor Lamb


	18. All Roads Lead to Lamb

I was still coming off of the rush of anger that hearing Eleanor's voice had given me. As far as I was convinced everyone's stories pointed to her being the head. Now, the bitch is claiming Im supposed to be dead? I was with Daisy and Jack's cause before, but now, oh we were going to break into her offices and take the whole family and burn them, gut them, torture them! whatever was required of me would be done. I was all in.

Sampson's timing on the radio was more than suspicious, not only that, but I had calmed Daisy down from her line of questioning to Sampson. Sampson told them he was ready to bring them to the Arts and Business district. He didn't seem thrilled that I had ran into other's, but he said that he was glad that of all people I ran into Jack. Didn't mention why.

According to Daisy the AB district was Flora Flitwick's territory and she had hulled herself and the district behind lines of traps and turrets, as not to be bothered by the God's outside in the cold theaters of Zion. Whoever Sampson was, Flitwick trusted him or didn't know she was in there with him.

Jack was collected as we recounted the events of the past few hours to him,

"Interesting. We would have to go through the hospital wing, it's huge. Suchong originally owned all the labs and patient care facilities and it was just large enough to care for Zion's public. That is until Eleanor authorized the Tree to take over public health. They expanded the wing atleast 300%. That was a big issue for Francesca Fontaine. She had to take on the public image as to why Zion needed three times the amount of healt facilities. That was hard to explain when what youre actually trying to cover up isan experimental science facility. Are you even listening to me , Percy?" Jack had noticed Percy didn't seem focused.

"What? Oh..uh yeah. We got to take the hospital route to Sampson." Percy delved back into staring at the middle distance.

"Right" Jack was worried Percy might be losing his grip.

"So we will have to trek acrossed the facilities that helped to cause the great freeze. There is no telling what we will encounter. We know Fontaine is still hiding the children rescued from the seed program. I doubt she would be hiding them in the hospital. Too easy for Lamb to bring the family down on her. But it's certainly a possibility. Suchong is for sure in there but he is so paranoid The pure thought of attacking us would set him into a panic."

Percy remembered when Adler delivered him to Jack that at some point he had heard both Fontain and Suchong, they were working together, and so was Jack, something wasnt adding up, "What exactly is the Family?" Percy keyed in.

" The family is an extended list of capable people. A who's - who of science, religion, politics, art. Anyone who was a high end contributor to the Lamb agenda was saved in the freeze. They stay in the Lamb family offices. Which...aren't really offices as much as they are part of a luxury resort. Complete with everything needed to run their own society in the case of a high level threat."

That was a fact the I felt like should have been mentioned earlier. That meant the whole city and ocean werent just simply frozen on random. It was by design. If Lamb could control which areas of Zion froze and which ones didnt then this wasn't necessarily a grave as much as it was a Prison. Prison's can be escaped. It was time to stop playing follow the leader. "When Adler brought me to you it was Fontaine that told him you would know what to do with me."

Jack seemed surprised," why would Francesca ever want anything to do with me? Her and Suchong together? The history is full of too much malice, you're remembering wrong."

That didn't settle with me, the names were all connecting. All of them. all roads were leading to Lamb, "We are looking at this all wrong."

Daisy gave me a displeased look, "in what way are we looking at it then?"

"If Lamb wanted us dead, we would be dead? You're telling me her supporting base is all alive inside a safehouse? That the people left out here are such a large threat to her that she couldnt send a couple of thugs out here with enough "blaze" to melt every inch of ice? This is all part of a plan to bring us closer to her."

"Well of course it's a plan to catch us, we told you she is collecting God's" Jack spit back.

"You are NOT Gods!" I snapped. Enough of this silliness. As if I had not experienced abother life as well. This was bullshit. " I had a life on Land! In America! A fine one too. I was honored in the war. I saw half of my platoon ground into pieces of meat by a blast I was meant to control! This place can't be for God's because God's don't make mistakes!" I was breathing heavy from the excitment of releasing some tension in my mind. " You aren't God's, you are people trapped in another crazy experiment that leads to the valley of death, and we all know, there's no way out."

That note hit Jack hard because he had been in this situation for nearly seven years. When he started to remember other lives. It toom him a long time to accept this cage he was in. His body of course not the much larger physical tomb surrounding him. That is what would eventually eat Percy away was not being able to escape his own skin. Jack was too emotional and he knew Percy wasnt ready to see the full truth. For now he would have to stretch the journey until her new Percy was ready. " let's get some rest. We can head for Zion general practice in the morning. With any luck we could be at the emergency exit door for "Adler's Artisan Works" as early as midnight tomorrow."

I could tell I had struck a nerve that Jack was letting slide. I wasn't afraid of him but, he seemed to be on my side, I needed to control my temper or i'll end up walking these halls alone. I agree to get some sleep and retreat into the cellar of Zion Records. It was a nice gift shop for a place of worship. Some would think it was almost as if they used the ideal of a God or savior to collect revenue. I guess one could include me in that category. I plopped down in the corner where Daisy had laid me out some blankets and a foam bouy wrapped in cloth as an excuse for a pillow. There were two other men here, they didn't talk much or ever give me their names. what was their contribution to this story I wondered? As I questioned myself over and over, somewhere I found peace and reached sleep.


	19. Audio Log: “Sofia Lamb: Time Dilation”

"Sofia lamb: time dilation"

Date:xxx

Time dilation, as it is seems, is determined by relevant speed of two subjects which are in motion. Therefore, one who had been in a state of potential motion or non existent motion would percieve time as being longer than a body in motion. If time acts this way on the conscious mind, we must expect it acts this way on a much grander scale as well.

Some timelines begin and end abruptly, other dragging on and on like a doe with her leg fractured. It is horrible to think the games we have played in these bodies to watch the things Rosalinda has captured has taught me the desperate need for structure and care for the entire Zion family. One day, the work I and Rosalinda are building could be the door to no more prisons, no more mistakes. Just a bunch of people put back on a path to a normal life. If there is a divine essence that guides the structures of these worlds I have destroyed. Let it show mercy upon me and accept the sacrifices I will take in this life. I guess you could say that with all this information it would be silly not to have became aware that for these efforts to come to fruition; Time for me will seem to be moving ... quite fast I'm sure. So funny.. retribution.


	20. Risky Business

"The choice is simple Mr. Percy. You stole from a very wealthy person. The savior is showing you her grace. "

I was sitting on a rotten wooden stool that felt it was going to buckle under my weight. To my left, there is a bowl of water with two handles dipped into it. The handles on one end have some sort of cloth and the other ends are connected to wires attatched to some sort of power source.

In front of me, the man that beckons my answer is the man from the light house that lead me to Zion, dressed in a yellow blazer, red hair with a brilliant goatee.

"Do you hear me Mr.Percy?"

"W..who..who are you?"

The man stand and walks to the back of the room.

"It isn't taking, he will need to be lobotomized if there is to be any chance of finding the thorn"

A dark haired woman does not advert her gaze from the window she is gazing out of. She is dressed in a velvet blue dress with gold trim. Older in style maybe early 1920's?

"Not yet, run him through again. Only this time, give him some help." She inhaled a puff of her cigarette

The man looked back at me with a gaze that said he was excited. "Antioch, should do."

He walked towards the bowl with the homemade torture device.

I panic, "no please stop, no whatd did i steal?"

"Don't act oblivious!" The man screams

"Robert!" The woman bellowed. She turned around to reveal a beautiful woman, her neck length brown hair and large eyes gave her a look of innocence, but the dark circles and stern expression said this woman had seen death, "calm down"

"Excuse me madam, I seem to have let the urgency of matters get to me. I will prepare the particulator for his arrival to Antioch."

"No." She said as she moved close to me and came eye to eye with me where i could feel her breathe. My heart pounded. "Send him to Zion."

Robert's face sunk in almost in fear "yes, of course."

She gently kissed my lips then whistled the notes I had heard in the light house, C-A-G-E.

"Now sleep"


	21. Audio Log: Suchong’s -Blocks and Bonds

An excerpt from:

"...It is well documented fact that, as person ages, so do memories. Some seem to die and are lost to time, while other are perserved. Though these memories fade they still appear as small set of photo in the mind's eye. The subject captures image set and can access them at later point in time and play them in own personal theater. Over time person may lose image that complete sets or even sets all together. This could be due to number of things, loss of room, process of elimination, damage, or simply mind that becomes unconcerned with memories. Any way the cake is sliced the science of memories proves that memories decaying at alarming rate with time.

If one could perserve memories as though they were vase made in acient

Times and put on a shelf to be stored, well it would be awfully convienent, but imagine the spacial requirments for that many images? How many vessels would Suchong need? And how would one slow time or perserve the sets for longer periods. This is question of utmost importance in finding links in the web we know as conciousness. ..."


	22. Queens, bishops, and pawns

I awoke in a sweat, i could feel the panic in my body as though i were still in that room. What was happening to me? I mean, really , what was happening? The dream seemed so real. I felt the electricity sore through me just before I snapped into reality. I search my temple for the area where I remembered the shock, sure enough I feel a tenderness. from my best estimates, it might have been a week since the initial shock.But, it definitely happened. That was no dream, it was a memory. I analyzed it, "Robert". Could it be?

When we were heating the educational facilities Daisy had described to me the way she had gotten to Zion. Different from the rest she claimed. The names of the two people were Ms.Rose and Mr.Robert, I sure as hell remembered that. I also remembered Daisy believed Robert to have fallen out of the sky and ultimately ended his existence across multiple times. Maybe, just maybe, there was a link. Maybe, the two people he saw at the light house and the two from Daisy's story were one in the same. It would certainly explain alot. Atleast, it would explain what or who brought him here. But who was that woman from the dream? He knew it wasn't Lamb, he had seen her on the television before. No this woman was much more fierce, dictative, and well to be honest beautiful beyond compare. I felt her lips against mine and heard the tune C-A-G-E glide through my thoughts. She didn't seem to be the enemy. The plot thickened.

I had a good hour to think on some more points that the dream had helped me learn. She told Robert to give me help this time. If my guesses are correct that's Daisy. Now outside of myself and Daisy, from what I could tell Jack, his croney's, Lamb; they had a story here in Zion one that ended in a big problem. But the riddle is why was I chosen to be sent here to fix it?

Never the less, it was a new day and today was the day we solved the puzzle that is Sampson. Apparently from day one of the Grand Opening of Zion there was a mysterious organization that only opperated through the artist's struggle. That being said on the opening night there was, but of course plenty of live entertainment and art displays being showcased. The word got round to a certain score of people that there was a resistance to the form of government that was being established because it would inevitably lead to a tie between the founders beliefs and politics. Apparently this group claimed it was looking for individuals that look for no governance and wished to liberate the people in this city before it was too late. Alot of good that did them, huh?

Anyway, from what Jack explained to me he was still operating as a honorable chair member of what was then known as Zion's first family. Jack said they had caught some wind of what they decided were Anarchist type movements and Sofia decided they were an expression of freedom and would have been welcomed by Andrew Ryan who's name,she felt, should be honored. Even though Lamb herself felt things deserved a structure, she also felt it was important to let the society evolve itself. Well that wasn't exactly the views of her constituents; and while they themselves couldnt stop what came to be known as "Medusa's Militia". Now I know, I agree, its sounds corny right? But apparently these people had such a strong voice from the start that any public votes or cases they put a decision on, became set in stone, hence the name. So, the first family decided maybe they should petition Sofia for some controls on the movement. When the second coming was denied some board members saw fit to take matters into their own hands. Now the founding members of the first family were as Jack tells me, Sofia Lamb, Yi Suchong, Flora Flitwick, and Harvey Adler.

The plan that transpired stemmed from the discovery of ADAM by a young female scientist. Flora Flitwick saw the commercial possibilities of ADAM and bought the scientist and her formula for a shitty price and worked the poorl girl till they drove her insane.By that time the militia was running openly in bars.Flitwick designated Suchong to run different versions of the product. What a surprise when her favorite product was the one that came back with higher dependancy rates in test subjects. What happened after that was a quick spiral. Flitwick branded her product and released it as an all-natural anti depressant. Got it put on shelves in every shady store in the districts of Zion. Well it was pretty quick for people to notice this shit hit harder than opium and Sofia popped Flora with a recall and sanctions on her product until she could prove it had a value medically or otherwise. Sofia Lamb didnt want Zion to become a drug infested slum destined to die.

Naturally, Flora was pissed. She needed a vice on the people of Zion to make them dependant on not only her product. But the designer itself, the Family. Now remember at that time what Flora was selling wasnt Elementix. It was called Adamè ,pronounced ah-dom-ay, and sold simply as a supplement or in capsule form. This stuff didnt give you super powers. Well, lucky enough for Flora, Harvey Adler was an artist and he could sell her supplements on the black market to the artists. It was a perfect plan because it would target the leaders of the militia and effectively disable the legitimacy of their voice. How could a society follow the lead of a bunch of junkies for enlightenment. Now, why would Harvey do this knowingly? Because Harvey Adler was already a junkie, his walk and talk were that of a deranged man willing to do anything in the name of art. So that is how Flora presented the Adamè, as an art experiment. Adler loved the idea and even went as far as telling the bartenders in his public showcases to dose beverages with small amounts to enhance the consumers experience.

The way Jack explains it, the drug came like a thief in the night and exposed a corroded artery in Zion. One that Flora could point to and say, "see, theyve stolen our property and caused an epidemic in the cliques of the art district. How could a moral society follow their lead?". After all, didn't the Family recall the product for the safety of Zion? Only for the militia to bust it out. All the while Suchong hadnt been working on a public product at all. He was making a weapon. Now, you got to remember Sofia is running this stuff as a consumer product and she wont legalize it unless Flora get's a medical certification or something close enough to serve the stuff justice.Lamb didn't approve biological weaponary and to be honest neither did Flora. So when Suchong brings Flora elementix he presents it as a tool this time, says the ADAM powers the weapons and he was able to remove the addictive properties to make medical certification needless. Flora was impressed but she needed something on the market that's supply created its on demand. She wanted the junk back in the junkie. So she had a big plan. Well, by this time Jack had seen enough to raise his suspicions thats Flora was to blame for the Adamè epidemic. She never filed a report or mentioned her warehouses being breached. Not until atleast she was sure that her plan worked. Either way you flip the penny , Medusa's Militia was defeated and now they were dependant on the same family they had preached against.

Jack approached Sofia just before the tip of the iceberg came and told her of the pieces of the puzzle that didnt add up, These were the late days of Sofia Lamb and she had lost her glow, but she was aware that the Family was betraying her. Her grand idea was to host an election. Anyone in Zion 30 or older could run and they would represent the public relations for the family. That is the election that resulted in Zion's fifth and final founder Francesca Fontaine known as the people's champion, on that day the militia made their last known public move and tried to assasinate Fontaine. The shooter was never captured as Zion had a very small authoritative presence. The only known thing is before the shooter fired he screamed at Fontaine, "Hey Delilah, Sampson sends his love."

And that is where the myth started, A man named Sampson was leading the militia in hiding and had found a way to motivate his band of what were now considered unwantables. Essentially, it created a ghetto in the art community and Sampson was the big bad gang leader. Only he wasn't exactly a bad guy according to Jack. Whoever was controlling the militia was building homes and helping citizen. They were trying to clean the militia's name.

Fontaine survived the shooting because of a mixture Suchong had made using ADAM. The bullet hit her just above her right eyebrow. In her prefrontal cortex. Suchong was afraid she would be disabled even if he did save her. To their surprise the ADAM and mixture of Suchong's wonder drug cured Fontaine. That was enough for Sofia to give Flora limited rights to produce ADAM products for medicinal value. But, Sofia was smart it was a temporary certification which required Flora to sign 50% of the rights to the Lamb estate and all production would need to be monitored. This meant jobs for Zion, it also meant an expanding government. When, Fontaine took the stage again she was a hero, and the growth in jobs and information was credited to her. Sofia didn't mind, but Flora did. The way Flora saw it, it was her ambition that had restored structure and growth to Zion.

Then came the big split. Flora decide she would be able to collect more revenue if her businesses were her own and not a subsidiary of the government. So she signed the medical rights of ADAM to Sofia and began one of the most successful expansions of business and imports to Zion. Still she didnt get the attention she wanted.

Sofia Lamb approached Jack on new years eve just before midnight to tell him she was rewriting the family. He didnt quite understand, but she offered him a larger suite in a classy part of the city and told him it would be safer. He took that as an offering and promptly resigned from the Zion family.

The next day Sofia Lamb aired on every radio wave in rapture. Zion's first family was to be dissolved, The new monocle of the Lamb Family came with changes. Sofia was no longer just the owner of Zion she became the savior it needed. She established the Tree a multi-platform research and health facility to discover the full list of benefits ADAM could have on human life. She gave Fontaine the funds to build her own piece of Zion and even encouraged it. As far as Sofia was concerned Zion's voice came through Francesca. The next thing Sofia did was build educational and religious facilities. This was used to give low end families access to education for their children when they could not afford Flora's documentary style classes offered in bookstores. Public health, public education, and freedom to worship. Zion fell back in love with it's creator. Then to tie it all up in a bow Sofia announces her daughter Eleanor will be taking her place as the final branch of decision in Zion. Sofia then went into hiding and began her work on the tree.

Eleanor wasn't as welcoming as Sofia or loving. She started her reign by re-issuing Flora Flitwick rights to create ADAM products for public use as long as all research and documentation on future analysis of ADAM was recorded and reported to both the Lamb family and the tree. Then she kicked Harvey Adler to the curb citing him as a mad man, no disagreement there. Flora and Eleanor had a wonderful relationship while Fontaine became strained to explain to citizens how to cope with the changes in their laws and taxes. Then came Elementix, and people went nuts. Murder rates shot up, crime skyrocketed, and Zion looked like it might have another diseased limb. That's when Sofia emerged from deep with-in the tree facility sporting grey hair and a wrinkled face. Strange because she had only been gone three years. That night to Eleanor and Flora Flitwick's disdain, Adler helped broadcast Sofia on the emergency alarms in the City. It was the most beautiful speech, thanking the citizens for their additions to Zion, apologizing for shortcomings, and encouraging them for the future. Sofia Lamb ended that speach with her most famous words, " The savior has planted a seed, the lamb shall shed her blood, and the tree will give us its fruits."

A Prophecy of hope for Zion and the last public words by Sofia Lamb. When she passed she was mourned by the entire city. Rumors were the militia was even present to pay their respects. The city united for a moment under her death. And on the surface it seemed Zion was once again peaceful and growing.

The truth, Elementix was eating the lower class alive and people were starting to understand how to control the abilities it provided. In order to prevent revocation of legal ADAM, Flora had Suchong fake the numbers of ADAM or Elementix related hospital visits. Then something strange happened. Eleanor had a new aid who seemed to havean answer for all of Eleanor's needs and out of nowhere, Eleanor's interest in ADAM died and she too became obsessed with this tree. The only authorized tree members were, Lamb, Fontaine, and the aid.

Soon after the jig was up and people were all going nuts over Elementix, and in her abscense Eleanor had failed to fund Fontaines public image campaign. Suchong was discovering how to build these surveillance machines/robots to act as police presence but couldnt get them to function as programmed, so he started making new adam products, one in particular he called a plasmid. He then collected near dead ADAM junkies as they poured into the hospital and pronounced them dead. Only he really was using their addiction to hypothesize a theory on how to make his police machines functionable.

When Fontaine found out, she had already been disgusted withe secrets of the tree. Her resignation from the family came swift. What came next was chaos. The whole city destroyed itself and then in a fraction of a second the whole city froze and all of the citizens were nowhere to be found. For the few who survived they couldnt explain why but they approached Lamb family first and were met with aggression and told to stay off their property. Fontaine broke the children out of what she called the seed program. Suchong hid deeper in his labs never stopping his work. Adler is said to be highly addicted to elementix, there are even theories he was Sampson all along. Flora as you know is so scared of the lashback against her products she barricaded herself. Then there is Jack, and he is stuck out here with a brave few souls trying to turn Zion back on.

Im sure there is much more to the story, but as far as I know to bring Zion back, Jack believes we will eventually have to break into the tree. Luckily, Sofia provided him with a map of the new facilities, as if she had seen it all coming and new he would need it. We all had packed well and headed through general practices and down a set of stairs into a flooded room that lead to another hall. It was the first steps, but for me it felt like I was seeing the big picture for them, now to find out my role in all of it. As Jack refuses to tell me why he knows me. I hear a loud set of metal foot steps clank over head and let out a screech. I see the sign above the door leading to "Heavenly Rest" explode and then All of the lights around us go out. Again a loud screech followed by the sound of large metal being thrown. something was here and it wasn't looking to have a tea party.


	23. Sister: Isabella

Everyone in the group immediately drew their weapons, we all turned our backs to each other. There were five of us, the two men's name i found out to be Kyle and Peach.

We were standing in a circle, the large machine was jumping from spire to spire the only think we knew is it was loud and had a huge red light for an eye. Suddenly the emergency sirens blare a feedback sound that cause each of us to cringe.

The loud voice of Eleanor Lamb boasted over the speakers. " Do you think it wise to play with strangers Percy? Going into unknown places to search for answers to endless stories? I believe Isabella is a little jealous." Overhead the monster lets out a cry of agreement.

"Yes, yes you could have stayed dead Percy. Your job was finished and did you did an outstanding job. I mean really, who would have thought all that power was hidden inside just ONE seed? " She let out a moan of unbelief , "some would kill for that power, but no matter I can't have you running through my facilities turning up the heat, you will turn back years of progress. Isabella, please handle this waste." The sirens ripped in startic as she resigned.

Just then the mechanical beast dropped in front of us kneeled on one knee and slowly looked up, staring straight at me. Kyle let off an explosive buckshot followed by a blast of electricity from his hand, i noticed the yellow cigarette hanging from his mouth. He was smoking it like a full cigarette, his tolerance must be insane! Peach blasted a frag out of his launcher and the monster tucked forward, rolled and popped out and shot off a couple of rounds. Kyle popped off another buckshot, followed again by a huge Zap!

The beast did an arcobatic side roll missing the buckshot but getting hit by the zap. Daisy followed up with a steady stream of shells from her tommy gunn to which she was met with a high jump that landed on her chest. On the beast right hand a blade decompacts itself and readies for Daisy's chest. I felt a rage inside of me ripple and suddenly my nose was bleeding.

Everything was moving in super slow motion and in front of me I see that the beast is positioned in front of statue with a spear. Was the statue there a second ago? No surely not, no matter; percy ran forward while time seemed frozen. He got to the huge beast and leaned in with a shoulder and dug the monster onto the spear just below it's left clavical. Time evened out and everyone was silent, i looked up the beast was not dead but the spear acted as a barb making removing itself impossible. The machine cries and screams in agony.

Jack spoke up, "Percy did you just open a door"

"What do you mean" I acted as if I knew nothing.

"One second the beast is about to kill daisy, the next you flash in front of it with a statue that wasn't there before. You opened a door."

"I don't know how I did it?"

"That's not important" Daisy chimed in, "you saved my life. I owe you my graditude."

"No, stop it had to be done." I blushed

She neared the beast.

"Be careful!" peach shouted. It was notably the first time I had heard his voice.

"Hush, Peach!" She climbed the statue till he was face to face with beast, now doing what i can only describe as gasping for air. "Not so scary now huh"

Daisy reached up and rotated the head to the beast counter clockwise and pulled up. It wasnt a beast at all. It was a woman. " It's a Big sister, not a rapture model, naw, too advanced. This is got to be Zion made"

Jack retorted, " what would Eleanor need with a big sister"

Daisy smiled, " didn't you hear Percy here is a seed!"

Just then the woman in the suite reached the blade up and stabbed Daisy from the bottom of her chin through to the top of her skull. I heard the slice go through her flesh as blood ran down the blade I became nauseated.

My heart dropped, I watched Daisy's body fall and bleed out as my vision closed into a black hole i saw the woman in the suit crying as she looked at me. She was scared?

Blackness.


	24. Prison Break

"Helppppppp!"

Brigid could hear the commotion outside. It was the first sign of human life she had heard in ages. But it didn't sound like they were exactly having fun. She banged on the door more.

"Hellllllppppppp!"

The sounds had stopped. Brigid listened closely for signs that someone was still there. As tears filled her eyes, she let out one last desperate wimper "please help me." She collapsed into tears.

I snapped awake as if a some strange signal had started me up. In front of me the woman who had been in the suit was dead, a buckshot to the face and she was more or less decapitated I only identified her by her skin color on her shoulder, as she was a very dark tan. Daisy's body was wrapped in cloth. Kyle dousing her with gasoline. I couldn't find Jack. But someone needed help I heard them crying and beating. It was coming from nearby. I gazed up at the busted sign for "Heavenly Rest".

Looking back I tried to take in the fact daisy was gone. Kyle lit a match and set her on fire. He promptly mouthed a prayer as well. "Kyle" he turned to me a single tear rolling down his cheek. I may have only knew her three days but I felt the pain too. War had taught me to continue on no matter the losses.

He replied, "yea chief?"

"What is Heavenly Rest" i asked him lowly trying to ignore the obvious air of greef.

"It's the looney bin brother. Zion's own collection of crazies. I doubt there is anyone left, the freeze probably took most of them." He regained his composure. " why?"

"Someone in there wants our help. Where is jack?"

"Him and peach took that mechanical suite back to the record shop for research. Shouldn't be too long til they get back we haven't even made it to the research facilities yet."

Daisy's death had forced Kyle to participate ,and from the looks of it, the Elementix had taken his will to live down to a minimum.

"Follow me Kyle,I need back up." I asked softly.

Kyle gathered his gear a beaten man and avoided looking at the body of Isabella on the floor. I glanced at the burning body of Daisy and asked myself if I had already failed. Could I even help fix this place. I felt defeated.

As we came into the entrance of Heavenly Rest we cocked our guns and approached with caution. Kyle snapped a finger and the whole room lit up like a fire. It was a fire, kyle was blowing clouds of smoke quickly smoking a blaze. In the distance I heard a soft sound. Listening closely, i could tell it was a female crying.

"Hello?"

Brigid heard someone call out she stood quickly amd beat on the door. "Hello, please help me!"

I look at Kyle who turned the guide light into a fullforce ball of white hot lava. I couldnt imagine the power he was feeling. I turned towards the cell numbered 12.15.22-5.

I pointed my hand gun at eye level and unlocked the hatch then, lifted my leg. "Stand back!"

Brigid ran to the cot located at the far side of the room and kneeledin her bed. A pound on the door. Please be good people.

I kicked again, the door burst open. It was living qaurters, across the room a woman is on the bed, malnourished,scared, and in need of some grooming and care. She is in a high panic. " What's your name?" My gun still pointed at her.

"B-b-brig-Brigid" she finally coo'd

" Why are you locked in here?" Kyle asked sternly

"I remembered... I .I remembered it all" she said.

Me and Kyle looked at each other acknowledging she was part of the story. " get up" I told her, " we are busting you out of here"

She got up and started gathering supplies. Kyle had left the room. I heard him kick in another door "Hey Percy. Come check this out."


	25. Audio Log: Sofia Lamb - Possibilities

Sofia Lamb: Possibilities

Date:xxx

It is without saying that for multiple realities to exist there must be infinite possibilities. What that means is for every question that has multiple answers there is a reality in which each answer is correct. This should correspond to attributes of the human experience as well. Seeing what I did in that poor city of Rapture resulted in my will to free the citizen's of Zion. In some reality I never saw Rapture, in some I made Zion but followed the same mistakes of Rapture, in others I was the President of America, other planets, different dates in time. The possibilities are endless. Even my eyes are a different color in the reality Rosalinda showed me. Fransesca was a male named Frank and Harvey was a completely different person altogether. The idea is that your essence is a member of a larger web of existence. We are doing science that some realities will not even begin to do until the end of this millenium. It must be handled with responsibility and care, the duty of perserving this world we were granted. For all the constants and all the variables it seem the essence of the people eho surround my story is as constant as existence itself. We are tied and bound together, forced to experience these lives over an infinite span of time. Thankfully the conscious mind can only percieve a single one. I can't imagine the pain and anguish that would be caused by collecting so many lives in one mind.


	26. Intermission & Thanks

Intermission

* * *

Look for Pt. II to start releasing by April,2020. These chapters are not perfect, In fact they are chalked full of horrible grammar and lacking in direction. This isn't to say they don't have value. If there were those who found their interest sparked by this short beginning, I hope that I will soon have a new piece of the story available for you to explore. However, expect to see a new writing style and more dedicated plot.

Thank you for your time.

\--Alexander D. Sullivan


End file.
